Basket: 
I am passionate about reading, writing, and libraries. In 2022, after working in education for forty years, I became a freelance writer. In 2023 I was Writer-in-Residence for Crossing the Tees. I spent months hanging out in libraries, with photographer Jo Booth, then wrote Everyone Welcome: Remembering and Celebrating Teesside Libraries. Since then, I have been writing about culture for magazines and websites, written poetry and led poetry workshops, and become secretary of the Friends of Loftus Library. I have run arts projects, craft activities, and a regular writing group at Loftus Library.
As someone who moved to Teesside in 2021, I have used reading to get to know the local area. I have also noticed that a link to their locality or interests can help people get back into reading. My project is about Reading the Local Area. I will be researching written material linked to sports and leisure, history and industrial heritage, nature and landscape, folklore, myth, and legend in the context of Middlesbrough and Teesside. I am looking forward to spending time in the wonderful Middlesbrough Central Reference Library and other local archives and then sharing a range of written materials at public events.
